by Sir John Hawkins

John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.

1. The idea that a senate seat should belong to a family dynasty, according to any rule written or not, hard or soft. We were supposed to have done away with this way back at the Battle of Yorktown.
2. The idea that if you come from a prominent family, you should be able to get away with killing people.
3. Politics of personality in general. From this point forward, a politician with a boring personality who promotes good ideas, should enjoy a longer, fuller career than a “charismatic” blowhard who promotes stupid ideas.
4. Death taxes, exit taxes, capital-gains taxes…and progressive taxes. Progressive taxes are actually as anti-American as any of ’em.
5. Rich people using poor people as poker chips to push bad laws. If it’s a dumbass idea, some sob story about some guy who had it rough, doesn’t suddenly make it into a wonderful idea.
6. The practice of re-electing people just because they happen to have a narcissistic streak a mile wide.
7. Borking.
8. That thing where you “reach across the aisle” and write legislation with that guy from the other party, and then as soon as he can’t do anything to benefit you politically anymore, turn on him, calling him every dirty name in the book in front of the microphones and cameras. That whole “scruples of an alley cat” thing.
9. That sick, sick custom of old, bloated, drunken sot politicians keeping themselves popular through hedonistic lifestyles, dishonoring, mistreating, and exploiting women.
10. Last but not least: Liberal politicians who promote abortion while claiming to be devout Catholics!